US to end protected status for Nicaraguan immigrants in 2019

Around 86,000 Honduran immigrants may see their Temporary Protected Status terminated in 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

The US is ending a special status given to 5,300 Nicaraguan immigrants that protects them from deportation.

Around 86,000 Honduran immigrants may see their Temporary Protected Status terminated in 2018.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will end in January 2019 a special status given to 5,300 Nicaraguan immigrants that protects them from deportation, senior Trump administration officials said on Monday.

The officials said Temporary Protected Status for about 86,000 Honduran immigrants would be extended by six months until July 2018, but they added it could be terminated at the end of the extension.

The decision to end the status for Nicaraguans could be seen as a move to fulfill Trump's vow to tighten restrictions on immigration.

Immigrants from both countries were given the special status in 1999 after Hurricane Mitch devastated Central America. In all, TPS protects more than 300,000 people from nine countries living in the United States.